September 23, 2013 -- Admittedly, Richard Clauss, Jr. of East Haven was half-asleep while watching the CT Lottery’s “Cash5” drawing on September 19. The part of Clauss that was half-awake, however, heard the Lottery’s drawing performer announce the winning numbers, which were very familiar to him—they were special “family birthday” numbers that Clauss regularly played.

“I immediately ran out to the car to get my ticket and then came back inside to check the lottery’s website. It was too soon after the drawing, so the winning numbers weren’t posted to the site yet,” Clauss told Lottery officials. “So, I called my ex-wife who tapes the drawings and asked her what the Cash5 numbers were.” She confirmed that Clauss had matched all five of the winning numbers drawn making for a spectacular $100,000 top prize win.

The Cash5 numbers on September 19, 2013 were 1 - 7 - 13 - 17 - 20. A total of 4,194 winning tickets were sold statewide for that drawing. Prize values ranged from $2 to $100,000 each.

“It was a night of restless sleep—I kept waking up wondering if winning the $100,000 was just a dream,” said Clauss. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.” Clauss visited Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill last Friday and accepted a prize check for $68,300 (value after taxes). “Half of the money I’ll invest and the rest will go to bills.”

Clauss purchased his $100,000 prize winning ticket, J&H Food Mart, located at 272 Maple Avenue in North Haven. J&H Food Mart will receive a $1,000 selling bonus from the CT Lottery for selling the ticket.